Would'nt know it. Just as all my Clematis are in bud and about to bloom along with lots of other things,winter is returning. Calling for temps in the 30's with snow for Monday and Tuesday. Night time lows in the 20's. This has happened for 3 years in a row and about the same time each year.
2 years ago we lost 2 large weeping Maples and my Clematis cameback but with not much blooms. Keeping my fingers crossed the weatherman is WRONG.
Gary
Here we go again!!!
Gary..what a bummer...fingers crossed for you hon..clematis don't seem to mind to be cold...did you lose blooms in prior years from this?...Jeanne
i would cut them back a week or two after the cold is over, or after your frost date, like an early season pruning if you get hit hard. then they can come back and bloom a little later without vascular damage from the frost. if there is a lot of tender green vine, sometimes it looks fine for a couple of weeks then the damage shows up as it is mostly internal and as the plant grows more the vascular system just can't support the growth.
i have had this happen to a lesser extent as we come alive more slowly. in zone 5. not as much green vine, but late frost damage has shown up on my plants within 2 weeks. i only think it effects blooms if you do not cut the damage off.
Every time I look it gets worse - forecast for 29 Monday night. Just before the azaleas are in full bloom
Love your fountain and back yard!..Jeanne
Thanks, Jeanne. We really need to work on the lawn this year. Lots of poa annua (think that's how you say it.)
Feed your lawn with Alfalfa pellets..just put them in a spreader..open it wide enough..spread all over and you'll be amazed how beautiful your lawn will be..Jeanne
Will that kill the weeds, or just fertilize the lawn? I know you can get rid of most of the annual weeks by getting your grass really thick and choking them out, but it doesn't work with this stuff.
It's a fertilizer and is like putting your grass on steroids..thick grass chokes out weeds...Jeanne
where do you get Alfalfa pellets?
feed store in my area. i now some folks use them in their top dressing too around the clems. i will be trying some of them i a few weeks when i have more time to mess around.
Jeanne sure did loss blooms for the past 2 years. It has been really warm the past month and everything is really putting out. The forecast keeps getting worse now saying up to 4-6 inches of snow with a hard freeze. Sigh!!
nip back new growth, and fertilize immediately when doing so, that gets hit hard by frost, but wait a week or two till you feel you are safe before doing it. may delay blooms but should not cause fewer.
Gary: That's a bummer to have a freeze in the beginning of April! Mother Nature's playing tricks on you! Hope your Clems & other plants will be okay.
Guru and Dawn..I too buy my alfalfa pellets at the local feed store..usually I get a 50lb bag for 11 bucks..I make alfalfa tea and put on all my clems roses and almost everything..my plants ADORE this stuff..
Andrew..bummer...we are suppose to be 35 degrees in the morning but fortunately that never affects my clems..I always water well before a coldsnap..don't ask why..I just always heard it protects the roots..guess similar to when you see the fruit growers in Florida watering for the same reasons...Jeanne
Many of us in the SouthEastern regions will suffer this late frost. I'm bracing for the damage this year too Gary. Jeanne has great tips on preparing the garden prior to frost. Smaller climbing Clems. I'm thinking of throwing an old blanket, bedsheet over them at sundown tonight.
well, we had rain last night so hope that helped and it was 36 degrees by 10 am in my garden according to my hubbie, who i called this am for a report. he said some wet snow this morning but it was in the 40's.
i can not cover with blankets or sheets, just too many plants in too many areas. if mother nature deals it out i will deal
with to. worst case would be re pruning new growth,which would only be a set back timing wise for blooms which is of no issue.
my fingers are crossed for everyone on this....i heard some areas were getting a foot of snow. how about you dawn, are you digging out yet?
Not digging yet but yes we did get some snow today and more on the way for the next few days....I think several cm's of it though.
Good luck to all of you with your clematises - I hope they make it through unharmed!
Some of mine that are in container, already showing signs of wilt. I spent some time in the garden tried to water the plants. Rushing back some tropicals and hanging baskets ect. Argrrrrrrrr!!!!
Have covered as much as possible but with temps going into the lower 20's I don't think it will help much. Have had snow since around 2:00pm today about an inch and half so far. What really make me sick is yesterday it 80 degrees and will be back to the 60's-70's on Thursday. Hoping, really, hoping it will not get as bad as forecasted.
we have been 36 degrees all day and periodic showers of wet snow. so weird how you could be in NC and hit harder than me in ohio. as my hubbie is reporting i am not anticipating damage, but we shall see what tonight brings. guess i am glad to be on a business trip out of town this week and not there to run outside checking over frustrated i can not cover.
fingers crossed for all concerned.
totally schizo weather for sure!
Here in the western mountains we have our on little micro climate. We get upslope snow. when the fronts come in they push the moisture up and over the mountains which in turn intensifies the amount of snow we get. 20 miles to our south they may get nothing. go figure. We are at 30 now with heavy snow.
oooh no . that sounds damaging. NC and alabama to be this cold in april, just doesn't make sense.
how much new growth on most of the vines is there?
will you assume damage and prune back after danger of this happening again?? i know that is hard to answer and you have to go gut and experience and weather as you try and assess it.
we too are in a microclimate, but the opposite type. everything bad (knock wood) goes to the ohio river valley , south of us and the lake effect never effects us (to the north of us).
sometimes however, we will miss rain as it splits and they get it in the lake effect areas and the ohio river valley.
nature is unpredictable, and clems are hardy. i wish you good luck and sunny skies tomorrow.
guess i will call my hubbie AGAIN for an update. most new growth from the ground (new shoots) is 4 inches or less, and the collars i put in the ground with all clems gives some protection. the vines with growth i didn't prune back or shouldn't have pruned back are old wood and should be hardier than the little shoots.......
for what it is worth , i am rooting for NC tonight. will the game distract you from the weather debacle outside?
Until it's over, (the game that is) LOL. Just took a peek outside still snowing!!!
tar heels were amazing last night. saw part of the game. hope the weather took it easy on you too! haven't called my hubbie yet for a report....at 10 pm last night we had rain and 36 degrees so i think we are ok, just normal hardening off
stuff. at lease i hope so. helps the new vines put a little wood on which helps them survive all kinds of things to come.
Go Heels!!! this AM we have about 3-4 inches of snow and it is 29 degrees. Off and on snow showers for today and a Hard freeze warning for tonight. Looks as tough another year shabby gardens are in store.
well the snow is more protective of the plants than just 29 degrees or ice, no?
trying to find the silver lining?
am going to call home right now for my report.
I do hope the snow protects the plants.
just called home, it is 29 degrees there too! and no snow!
i am hoping the 29 was a low and it was not a true hard frost.....at least we had a lot of rain first, not sure on that theory but if it works with citrus growers......won't be back there till 15th.
so many of my plants had shoot of 3 inches of less, i have fingers crossed. will do some proactive nipping on any that need it.
does make e crazy not to be able to inspect the little ones today. no one else would do that i this cold except a clematis nut!
29 here currently :(
so weird that 29 degrees is in texas, central ohio and NC.
hope my little pamela recta nubs are good. and lemon bells is one i worry about as i am just getting her established and she had one nice green shoot emerge last weekend. it is clem known to be hard to grow and i just put it in last year, when she promptly took a rest and just now showed green. oh well. onward and , hopefully , upward for all the clems nationwide.
forecast tonight at my place is 27 degrees. and snow.
right now 30, with high of 39 today. my hubbie said the sky is brightening up, for what ever that is worth. by wed back in 50's.
ggrrrrrrr
can't cover the clems, just too much area. we'll see what happens i guess. wondered why my hostas and peonies were barely peeking up and the vitacella clems taking time to emerge. they knew this was coming. listen to the plants as they say.
"what doesn't kill you makes you stronger", true for plants as well as people.
Hope you're right about that, my Versailles looks like toast.
I woke up to a forecast of right above 32F. degree this morning, but the lake wind advisory was in effect 'til 4pm today. My Clematis looked fine, hope tonight will be okay. Just another 24 hours. Comon' Spring!
This Springtime weather can be sooo fickle!
Yesterday's temps in my area were 62F (high) and 44F (low).
Today's temps are 53F (high) and 35F (low) tonight.
I wish Mother Nature would make up her mind!
Clematis are hardy perennial vines. They can take the fluctuation in temperatures! However, open blooms are a different story.
Good luck everyone!
hubbie reports we held at 36 all day. luckily over by tomorrow.
my zone is so not close to bloom time..even the atragenes are just leafing out.
tonight s the witching night, but if we get wet snow with the 27 degrees that helps protect the plants a lot.
I just went out to try to cover as many plants as I could--anticipating tonight's frost and I found my very first clematis bloom for this year. It's so cold and windy I didn't have time to take a photo, but it's either Fireworks or Dr. Ruppel. I planted them together last year when they were very small. (Now I realize the two colors probably aren't going to look good together.) They are full of blooms and growing low to the ground. I read in some thread that I should not try to make it climb until its stronger. Right?
Yes, even in North Florida, we are expecting frost in some areas tonight.
It was really nice seeing a bloom on something I've waited so long for. I've ordered TOO many clems lately. I should quit reading this forum late at night, but it's SO much fun.
It didn't get as cold as predicted here..hope all of you are ok!!..Jeanne
Jeanne, I'm glad I covered my tropicals, peppers, and clems last night. It did frost, but everything of mine survived!!! Maybe our flooding and freezing temps are over.